Chapter 90 She has a house?! This isn't a house she can afford to buy…

Just as Yao Xiaoyu and Pi Kangxiu had predicted, the storyline about the woman who married into the family caused a huge uproar.

Every day, someone claims to be irreconcilably opposed to a small fish, and will trample the article "Back to the Ming Dynasty" into the mud, describing it as the literary equivalent of Bao Si and Da Ji, which makes Yao Xiaoyu want to laugh—yes, yes, yes, men are all saints, the Shang Dynasty was ruined by Da Ji, the Zhou Dynasty was ruined by Bao Si, and the Tang Dynasty was destroyed by Consort Yang, in short, men are not at fault at all. [1]

She didn't write articles to argue, nor did she speak out on the street. She just listened to the debates of passersby and watched the heated arguments in the newspapers, waiting for the final result. But before the outcome of the ideological battle was decided, Yao Xiaoyu received good news from the people involved—the house she wanted had been secured!

"Are you sure this house is within my reach? I don't have any connections whatsoever."

Looking at the two-story garden villa in front of her, Yao Xiaoyu asked in disbelief, "It's not that I don't have money, it's just that only the rich can't keep this kind of place!"

"Okay, I'll take you inside to have a look."

The man shook a bunch of copper keys, and Yao Xiaoyu hesitated for a moment before following him inside.

The small building is a typical structure with a garden inside the wall and people living in the middle. To put it bluntly, the Yao family's house looks similar, but the price, layout and decoration are completely different.

The garden wasn't large, but it was very well maintained, with beautiful, unnamed flowers blooming profusely. The two-story house was divided into bedrooms, a study, and a living room, while the first floor had a separate kitchen and bathroom. Each room had an electric light, and the bathroom also had a flush toilet.

Yao Xiaoyu was initially a little uneasy, but after looking around inside and out, she felt relieved—this was not a house she could afford.

It wasn't a matter of price. Although houses calculated in units of ten thousand were indeed very expensive, thanks to the anonymous reader who sent her the lottery tickets, the money she had made from her windfall, plus the amount she had saved herself, meant that after paying for the house, she would still have a hundred or so silver dollars left.

Nowadays, when people acquire property, houses and land are also important components. In the Song Dynasty, the rent received was called "Chi'er Qian" (痴儿钱), which meant a stable income regardless of drought or flood. Many people also liked to acquire such property for their descendants so that even if they fell on hard times, they would at least have a stable source of income.

There are only so many places where value can be preserved. If you want it and I want it too, then we have to compete. Keep the tough ones and let the soft ones go. The rich eliminate the poor, the powerful kick out the rich, and the gunmen get rid of the powerful. Yao Xiaoyu only has an undisclosed author title, but she can't control this well-decorated villa on the Bund in Shanghai.

In this era, there was a special term for those who lived off rent: "yugong/po". The so-called "baozugong/po" were actually sub-landlords, but later most people used the term for the original landlords, and the meaning gradually changed.

“This house is comfortable to live in, and I don’t have to worry about being an apartment housewife. I haven’t done anything bad to you, so why do you want to harm me?”

The words were a bit harsh, but they weren't wrong. In this era, regardless of private treatment, one must have sufficient strength to receive the treatment they deserve publicly. Otherwise, if Yao Xiaoyu bought a house today, she would be harassed at her doorstep the next day. Unless she resold it at the original price or even sold it at a low price, she wouldn't be able to have any peace and quiet.

And this is only if the people are reasonable; they might give some money. But if they encounter unreasonable people, they might just take the house away, or even solve the problem at its source, potentially sending the Yao family to their graves.

Yao Xiaoyu glared fiercely, while Tao Xiaoxiao grabbed the middle-aged man by the collar, pulling him off the face of gravity. The middle-aged man struggled and turned pale before Tao Xiaoxiao released him, causing him to fall to the ground with a thud.

"Hehe..."

The man, who was still panting heavily, suddenly widened his eyes and let out an incomprehensible howl, his snot and tears streaming down his face. Having seen many movies, Yao Xiaoyu's first thought was that it was a zombie outbreak. She reflexively took a few steps back, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the man was not chasing her. She then carefully observed him from a distance.

These situations seem a little familiar...

...

When Wang Mieyan regained consciousness, his shoes and clothes were torn. He turned his head to look around, but didn't see any patrol officers. He didn't rush to get up, but just lay sprawled on the ground, staring blankly at the sky, his eyes even more murky than the eyes of a fish that had been dead for three days.

"Now can you tell me why you're selling this house to me?"

Wang Mieyan shuddered, half-stood up and looked in the direction of the sound, and saw two familiar figures—the rich young lady he thought was easy to fool, and the girl who looked unremarkable but could lift him up with one hand.

"You didn't leave?"

Wang Mieyan didn't realize his voice was trembling. Yao Xiaoyu, who had already recorded his entire person into her mental database, yawned and answered rather casually because she wasn't interested.

"Hmm, so why is that?"

Yao Xiaoyu grasped the main contradiction, and Wang Mieyan, looking at the menacing Tao Xiaoxiao, hesitated for a moment before finally relenting:

"I need money to buy medicine."

Once the first sentence is uttered, the rest of the language flows smoothly.

“I didn’t want to either, but the smoking cessation pills cost thirty silver dollars, and my daughter is waiting for me to redeem her. I’m really short of money…”

The man cried without any semblance of decorum, but Yao Xiaoyu showed no sympathy. She simply had Tao Xiaoxiao drag him onto a rickshaw when the patrolling soldiers came by, and then found a secluded place to get to the bottom of things.

The rickshaw driver was initially reluctant to let three people ride in one rickshaw, but he readily agreed after Yao Xiaoyu took out a silver dollar.

“No one will come to this place for half a day. Slowly explain things, from your daughter to smoking cessation medication.”

As she spoke the last three words, a cold glint flashed in Yao Xiaoyu's eyes. She hoped it wasn't what she was thinking, otherwise…

Wang Mieyan tried to break through twice but failed. He chickened out when Tao Xiaoxiao threatened to break his legs if he didn't want them. But he didn't have much talent for storytelling, so he decided to start with his name.

The "Yan" in his name refers to opium. His father died from opium addiction, and his grandfather gave him this name, leaving behind the family precept that his descendants must not touch opium.

But who can control a dead person? Especially when some people think the Wang family still has hidden money and are deliberately setting a trap for them.

Wang Mieyan really wanted to obey her grandfather's words, but those people were cunning. They didn't force Wang Mieyan to fall for their tricks, but instead mixed tap water with a drink and offered it to her. Wang Mieyan loved to take advantage of small things, so even though she thought the taste was a bit strange, she didn't refuse to eat it. She even thought the drink was very refreshing.

The so-called "tap water" was the liquid made by boiling opium residue in water, and a large pot could be bought for just a few copper coins.

Those people patiently increased the proportion of tap water every day, casting a long line to catch a big fish. By the time Wang Mieyan discovered it, he was already addicted.

At this time, the opium was of low purity, and the addiction caused by tap water was not strong. If one were determined to lock someone up, they could quit. However, Wang Mieyan had been pampered since childhood, in addition to being repeatedly told not to touch opium. He simply could not endure the process of quitting.

From tap water to legitimate opium, Wang's addiction to opium grew stronger and stronger. When his savings ran out, he pawned his belongings. Once he had sold everything he could, his eyes set on his wife and daughter... By the time he came to his senses, his wife had already been sold as a pawned wife, and his daughter had been taken by the madam who offered the highest price. He had only hurriedly taken his silver dollars to buy the top-grade horseshoe clay.

Once his craving for cigarettes subsided, he looked at the charred house and felt a sense of emptiness. He considered redeeming his wife and daughter, but ultimately did not take any action—what would be the point of coming back? He couldn't quit smoking, and even if he came back, he would just sell them off again.

When he was lucid, he cried and howled, feeling that he had let down his ancestors, but most of the time, he lay on the straw, floating in the smoke.

"So why did you sell the house to me?"

Yao Xiaoyu interrupted the man's tearful outburst. No matter how much he repented now, it couldn't hide the fact that he was scum. She wasn't there to hear his confession. In a sense, aside from the smoking cessation medication, she was actually more interested in his wife and daughter.

Wang Mieyan was speechless at these blunt words, and her subsequent words were somewhat dry, but at least she made things clear:

One day, as he was out, he overheard someone selling opium addiction medication on the street. The seller guaranteed it would help him quit opium, but a bottle cost thirty silver dollars. He didn't have a single coin to his name and was in despair when the seller of the garden villa dragged him over. Hearing the amount he could get, he agreed without hesitation.

If he can successfully sell the house, he can not only get the smoking cessation medication, but also redeem his wife and daughter!

As for the fate of the person who bought the house... as long as he got his money, that's fine. The buyer can just consider it bad luck!

The sellers of the garden villas are involved in organized crime. They genuinely want to sell the houses, but once you've paid, they'll use a combination of polite persuasion and force to get the houses back. As for the money—they're already being generous by sparing your life; get out of here.

But Shanghai is a very complex place. Who knows what powerful backers are behind seemingly ordinary buyers? They decided to only try their luck with the weak, so they approached a middleman who knew the customer's information.

Many middlemen took on the business, but only Wang Mieyan was truly interested. However, after looking through his notebook, he realized that most of his customers had left because he wasn't working. The remaining customers were all looking for cheap rooms and couldn't afford the room. Just when he was about to despair, Yao Xiaoyu appeared, looking so fresh and beautiful.

“I’m not human, but my wife and my children are still waiting for me. I really want to go back to the way things were before.”

Wang Mieyan cried uncontrollably, but Yao Xiaoyu only remembered the address where the smoking cessation drug was sold—she had read in modern materials that some people, in order to obtain higher profits, sold morphine, which is more addictive, under the name of smoking cessation drugs.

She certainly hoped the medicine would really work, but...

"I'm not human, daughter, wife, I'm so sorry!"

Wang Mieyan's wailing pulled Yao Xiaoyu back to reality. She did indeed sympathize with the two women, so she asked Wang Mieyan where she had sold them.

Wang Mieyan wiped away his tears and stood up, hurriedly leading Yao Xiaoyu to look for her. His wife was found easily because her belly wasn't showing yet, and the landlord was very easy to talk to. He could take her away after paying the money he had paid for her. However, there was no trace of his daughter at the madam's place.

"I'll help you find it."

Yao Xiaoyu was a wealthy and compassionate girl. After making a promise to Wang Mieyan, she handed the man over to Tao Jingu.

A few days later, Tao Jingu handed over a lot of silver dollars, more than what Wang Mieyan's wife had sold. He also gave Yao Xiaoyu some good news: Wang Mieyan's daughter was bought by a lady surnamed Chen on the way back to her own territory by the madam. She said she would provide her with food and clothing, but she would be sent to Southeast Asia to marry after she grew up.

As for where this money came from...

"Wang Mieyan realized his mistake, sold himself, and left a message saying that the money would be used to redeem his wife."

Tao Jingu omitted the fact that he had handed the man over to a newly acquainted friend, who also had a minor business involving a brothel.

After Yao Xiaoyu placed the silver dollars in Wang Mieyan's wife's hands, she also told her where her daughter was. The woman's tears immediately fell. She didn't say that she wanted to take the child out, but only asked if she could see her daughter quietly.

It was a bit difficult, but Yao Xiaoyu was a wealthy and compassionate girl, so the woman successfully saw her daughter, but she didn't acknowledge her as her daughter.

"I haven't seen her laugh like that in a long time,"

On the way back, the woman talked to herself, it was unclear whether she was trying to convince others or herself.

“That place is good, there are people who provide food and lodging, it’s better than being sold again with me; it’s also good that she marries far away, so she won’t have to worry about being harassed by her father.”

Yao Xiaoyu didn't speak, but the woman seemed to treat her like a confidante, rambling on and on about her past, her mentally unstable older sister whom she had seen in her childhood, and her current master's family:

"They said they wanted me to be a pawned wife, but they were just pitying me and deliberately found an excuse to buy me. I worked as a maid there. I was lucky; the man sold me once, but he couldn't sell me a second time."

The woman seemed to want to laugh, but in the end, she only managed to twist the corners of her mouth into an odd arc, not even knowing what she was saying herself:

“I begged him not to sell me, and he said I was crazy, that a woman should be in charge of a man; I cursed him for pushing my daughter into a fire pit, and he said I was crazy, that he gave my daughter her life and that I could do whatever I wanted; when I struggled, I hit my forehead and got a big gash, and he and the onlookers said I must be crazy, otherwise why would I disobey?”

"On the way back with my master, I suddenly thought of that crazy sister. She said she wasn't crazy. I agreed verbally, but I didn't believe her. Now I understand, she really isn't crazy."

...

Yao Xiaoyu returned home, thinking about the woman's words, and remembered a poem she had read before, what was it called again—

Oh, right, it's "The Little Birds Are Singing".

Yao Xiaoyu suddenly felt like writing something.

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The author says: [1] {The Shang dynasty was destroyed by Daji, and the Zhou dynasty was ruined by Bao Si} This is from Lu Xun's The True Story of Ah Q.

【2】Xianggu Pavilion: refers to a place where men provide sexual services.

[3] The Birds Are Singing: Original title: Kill a Bird, Author: Zhou Changfeng

The best way to kill a bird

It's about whether it's arguing or shouting.

You wrote it all as birds singing.

Whether it's cursing or crying

You wrote it all as birds singing.

Whether it pleads or groans

You wrote it all as birds singing.

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